The retired Chelsea legend attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
That is where he told an interesting anecdote.
Didier Drogba kept his promise to get clicked with Kylian Mbappe after turning him down in 2009. On the night when Chelsea dramatically lost to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League semifinal at Stamford Bridge with Drogba playing for the Blues, a then 10-year-old Mbappe was present and asked for a photo with the Ivory Coast star.
The forward had agreed with a friend to pose for a picture but later refused as he was left fuming at the “disgrace” refereeing during the match. But on Monday at the Ballon D’Or awards, Mbappe was present with Drogba hosting the show. Drogba presented the Frenchman a trophy for coming sixth in the overall rankings.
“10 years ago after Chelsea vs Barcelona, a child came to me and wanted to take a picture,” Drogba was quoted as saying by The Mirror. “That day I said no because of the disgraceful refereeing decisions. I learned that the child was Kylian Mbappe. I want to pay my debt now.”
A picture to remember! @SandyHeribert @KMbappe @didierdrogba #ballondor pic.twitter.com/bgzJpfqLBk
— #BallondOr (@francefootball) December 2, 2019
Drogba then asked all the guests to stand up as he snapped a selfie of him posing with Mbappe, and fellow presenter and TV host Sandy Heribert. While Mbappe now has a selfie with one of his childhood heroes, he has previously revealed that he did get a snap with Drogba during a spell training with Chelsea as a young hopeful.
The Stamford Bridge outfit passed up the opportunity to bring him into their academy back then, with the London giants left to rue that decision, but they did help to build ambition in a player who is now considered to be one of the finest on the planet.
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